Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Any of various brightly colored tropical marine fishes, especially of the family Scaridae, having fused teeth resembling a parrot's beak.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A name given to various fishes, principally of the families Labridæ and Scaridæ, on account of their colors or the shape of their jaws. The species generally of the family Scaridæ, common in tropical seas.
- n. A name given in Australia and elsewhere to Scarus pseudolabrus: called in the Australian tropics parrot-perch. In Victoria and Tasmania the name is also given to several species of Labrichthys. In New Zealand, the parrot-fish is Pseudolabrus miles psittacula.
- n. Same as blue groper.
Wiktionary
- n. Any of several tropical marine fish of the family Scaridae known for their beak-like mass of teeth used to scrape algae from rocks or coral.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. Any of several gaudy tropical fishes of the family
Scaridae having parrotlike beaks formed by fusion of teeth.
WordNet 3.0
- n. gaudy tropical fishes with parrotlike beaks formed by fusion of teeth
Examples
“The parrotfish should be the national bird of every atoll nation.”
“Some of the best known bioeroders are large organisms such as parrotfish and sponges, but much of the bioerosion occurs at the microscopic scale by organisms such as algae and fungi.”
“Herbivorous species such as parrotfish, for instance, graze on the weedy turf algae that invade reef surfaces, thus preparing those surfaces for larval recruitment.”
“The loss of algae-eating fish, such as parrotfish and surgeonfish, is worrying, says Paddack, because they help the reefs thrive by clearing away algae.”
“Some were truly incredible — from the impossibly tiny-mouthed filefish (No. 32), to the blue parrotfish (No. 35) that looked like wet sapphire, to the 2-foot-long remora (No. 34) that Adler insisted could adhere to my belly and hang there (it did, and the sensation was like having a vacuum-cleaner hose with a thousand tiny needles at its end stuck to your skin).”
“There are some locations where lionfish have totally altered the biodiversity of a reef," said James Morris, a NOAA ecologist at the agency's Center for Coastal Fisheries and Habitat Research in Beaufort, N.C. As a top predator, it consumes juvenile snapper and grouper along with algae-eating parrotfish, all of which help keep reefs healthy.”
The Washington Post: How to conquer the invasive lionfish? Saute it.
“Dr. Hay and fellow researchers catch parrotfish and surgeon fish and place them in the cages.”
“On the East Cape, beaches consist of parrotfish dung.”
“Now, with more gastronomically desirable reef species such as grouper in decline from overfishing, parrotfish have become highly sought after.”
“And that's ironic, Miller adds, given that parrotfish were once viewed as trash species to be avoided.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘parrotfish’.
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fish list
lots and lots of fish, a piscatorial
wetdreamablet, agnathan, ahi, ahuru, ahuruhuru, albacore, albicore, alec, alewife, allice, allis, amberjack and 840 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11250 more...
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PECH - marine species
African cuttlefish, Alaska plaice, Alaska pollock, Alaska pollack, walleye pollock, alewife, gaspereau, river herring, sawbelly, allis shad, American angler, goosefish and 994 more...
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Animal Identity Crisis
Creatures that are described in terms of other animals. Usual rules apply: look at the entries and you'll get the hang of it :-) I could say 'no madeupicals' but, jeeperz, I'd have to put myself on...
squirrel fish, birddog, whale shark, leopard seal, rhinoceros beetle, parrotfish, lion tamarin, bumblebee bat, cow sharks, tiger moth, dogfish, smoothhound shark and 140 more...
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Bird Fish
List of fishes whose names contain the name of a bird, such as parrotfish, sea robin, or snipe eel.
parrotfish, sea robin, snipe eel, hawkfish, duckbill, duckbilled buntingi, cardinalfish, armored searobin, goosefish, canary rockfish, cuckoo wrasse, eagle ray and 60 more...
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Underwaterritory
When you're underwater, what do you see or experience? Let's dive...
(Here's a cute little related list called Fishful Thinking...)underwater, curglaff, submarine, underwater habitat, diving bell, paravane, bottom trawling, sediment traps, torpedo, mines, shipwreck, sonar and 214 more...
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Reefkeeping
Cool names of stuff you might find in a saltwater aquarium.
tang, goby, grouper, blenny, angelfish, puffer, wrasse, sea cucumber, percula, anemone, coral, angler and 24 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for parrotfish.
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